Friends With Benefits
by theboyfriend-and-theprettygirl
Summary: Set before the Pilot. Nick and Jess meet at his bar one morning and things get complicated. What happens when Jess is interviewed for the Roommate position that Schmidt has advertised in the paper? Will they tell the others about their complicated situation? Summary sucks, but please read and review. Will be rated M for later chapters. Nick x Jess; Schmidt x CeCe; Winston x Shelby
1. The first time they met

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, this is my first ever New Girl / Ness story and I am so excited to write it.

I really hope that you all like it and it's something that you want me to continue.

So this is an **AU story** in where Nick and Jess meet at the bar _first_ and Coach will more than likely stay in the story, unless I decide to write him out.

Please, read it and review if you like it and want me to continue it.

Paris xx

* * *

"What can I get you?" Nick asked the pretty brunette that had just sat down at his bar counter.

"Something strong." She said sniffing a little.

He put down the glass that he was drying and focussed on the girl before him for a second.

Her eyes were blood-shot red. So blood-shot that he almost missed the natural beauty of her light blue eyes. Without another word, he already knew her story.

She was more than likely _dumped._ A feeling he knew too well himself.

Judging by the look of her tired eyes she had been crying excessively for days on end. _Non-stop_.

Being a bartender slash unqualified, yet often expected to be a shrink to his customers, Nick had learnt to distinguish a few things. For instance he knew that she was crying because of a break-up, and not because of a death of a loved one or having been laid off her job recently.

This was the kind of crying that he had experienced firsthand when he had broken up with Caroline.

Nick reached for two glasses and the bottle of Scotch.

"Here," she said pouring the liquor into the glass and sliding it towards her across the bar. "It's on the house. You look like you could use it."

The girl picked up the glass in her hand and brought it to her nose quickly to smell it. Had she not seem so heartbroken, he would have laughed at the gesture; but he couldn't find it in him to make fun of someone so helpless…someone so hurt and vulnerable.

"It's Scotch." He said before downing his drink quickly.

"I know." she mumbled, placing the glass back onto the counter. "I've just never had it before. I was thinking of something more like…red wine?"

Nick counted to ten to stop himself from reacting like he would usually do in this situation. Red wine was_ not_ something strong to drink. Whiskey, Rum, Vodka on the other hand were. _Was this girl serious?_

"If you're looking for something strong, this should do the trick." He said nudging the glass forward in her direction. "Try it. You might actually like it."

"Isn't Scotch more of a guy thing, though?" she asked bringing the glass to her lips and taking a small sip. "Ugh that's horrible! Do you have a nice red wine instead?"

"Sure." Nick said taking back the glasses and reaching into the fridge for a bottle of chilled Rosé. "Here you go, but I don't know how strong that' going to be though. You will have to drink the whole bottle to get a kick out of that."

"The bottle is fine. Thank you." she said throwing a hundred dollar bill onto the counter and picking up the bottle from the counter.

Nick watched as the girl took a seat at one of the empty booths, cracked open the bottle of wine and started to drink quickly.

There was something about her that he liked. Maybe it was the fact that he had been in her shoes once. Caroline had been a horrible girlfriend and stringed him along for years; constantly dumping him and then begging him for another chance, before his best friends and roommates put an end to her mind games. And although, _now _he could say that he was relieved, at the time he was in the worst place emotionally. So regardless of knowing anything to do with _her_ break up, his heart ached for the mysterious girl.

xooxo

"I'm Nick." He said holding out his hand to her, when he had slid into the booth to sit opposite to her.

"Jess." She said shaking his hand.

"How's the wine?"

"You were right. It's not strong at all."

"I figured. That's why I brought over the Scotch. Are you ready to give it another go?"

"Yes. I've already finished this bottle and it's done nothing." She said turning it upside down.

"I can see." he said pouring two glasses of Scotch. "Here you go." He said sliding her a glass across the table of the booth.

"Thanks, Nick." She said quietly, before bringing the glass up to her lips.

"No problem and this is yours," he said passing her the hundred dollar bill that she had given him before.

"No, it's for the Rosé." She mumbled softly, trying to hand it back to him.

"That's an awfully expensive bottle if you think it's worth a Benjamin Franklin, Jess."

"It's fine. You can have it as a tip then."

"It didn't even get you drunk! Look, tip or not, I can't accept this. Thank you," he said closing the money into the palm of her hand, "but it's yours."

"So… how much do I owe you for the wine then?" she asked, frowning a little.

"For the _cheap_ bottle that didn't get you drunk? Nothing. It's on the house."

"Won't you get into trouble for it? I mean, I noticed that this isn't your bar and your manager might not be happy to see that stock is being given away without being paid for."

"How do you now it's not my bar?"

"I saw a man come in with a clip-board and boss your around to do a few things."

"Have you been spying on me?" Nick asked, making Jess blush beet-red.

"No, I mean, I was bored and there's not really anyone else here to talk to apart from that homeless guy over there…so yeah, I saw you two. Are you oklay? You looked kind of scared."

"Of my _boss?_" Nick scoffed. "No. He is leaving and he is making me in charge until he finds someone else. It's his bar, but he wants to give it up and he needs to find another manager, but he's had no luck so far. So he's asked me to be his temporary manager until someone comes through for the position."

"Why don't you do it?" she asked, looking into his eyes for the first time since he had sat down opposite her in the booth.

"It's not for me." He said pouring another two glasses of Scotch. "Here."

"You seem to know what you are doing."

"It's complicated." He said sighing heavily. "So, Jess…what brings you here on a Monday morning at eleven am?" he asked changing the subject.

"I was dumped."

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm okay now. I mean, I kind of _dumped_ him like two weeks ago." She said sniffing a little and taking a drink of her Scotch. "He cheated on me."

"He sounds like an idiot." Nick said angrily.

"What?" she said, her voice just above a soft whisper.

"He sounds like a jerk. I hate people who cheat. They are pathetic low-lives and the guy clearly is an _idiot _if he cheated on you….because you are gorgeous…"

Jess smiled a little and finished her drink as an awkward silence fell over them. _Nice going, Miller!_ Nick thought as he finished his Scotch. He was starting to feel like he had made her slightly uncomfortable. He was on the verge of changing the subject when she spoke.

"We were together for six years." She mumbled. "The weekend before I went away, I was cleaning our house and I found an engagement ring." She said as tears started to fill in her eyes. "I tried it on and then I put it back where I found it and I said nothing. I went to visit my parents the next day. I wanted to talk to my mom, because I was certain he was going to propose. When I came back home earlier, I found him in bed with her."

"Jess, I'm sorry." Nick said reaching out of her hand and squeezing it gently.

"He had been cheating on me for a while. I didn't ask how long, because I was scared to find out. I thought we were happy, you know? I never would have thought he would cheat on me…I loved him so much. Now, I don't know whether the ring I found was for her or me…I never asked. I just left and now it kills me every day, not knowing…" she sobbed, as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Sometimes, it's best not knowing Jess." Nick said, rubbing imaginary circles over the top of her hand that he was still holding onto.

"What about closure?"

"Closure is overrated." He said quickly. "The best way to get over someone who cheated on you and broke your heart is to find someone else. Go out and meet someone new. Play the field for a bit. Have a fling…get your ex out of your system. Trust me; I have been on your end before. My ex-girlfriend she was a horrible person. We were together for almost nine years, and she cheated on me about four different times that I know of."

"Nick, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about me. This was a while ago and I'm over it. Just don't make the same mistake as me, Jess. I loved her so much and I took her back every time, despite how it made me feel, despite that I knew it was wrong. I thought I needed closure too, because I never thought that I would be able to get over her…but closure doesn't make it any better. All it does is make_ you_ feel bad. You are just giving the person who cheated, the person who broke your heart a chance to sit there and tell you _everything _that you did wrong…they are basically explaining why they cheated on you in the first place, Jess. You don't need closure…you need a better boyfriend."

"Do you know any? I'm looking." She said laughing a little nervously.

"You are not going to find anyone decent here."

"I found _you_." she whispered softly. "You seem pretty decent."

"Okay, I see that the Scotch has _kicked_ in." Nick said standing up from the booth. "My work is done here. It was nice talking to you Jess. I hope I gave you somewhat helpful advice and you get over your ex."

"Where are you going?" she asked, frowning a little.

"I have a bar to run." He said quickly, picking up the empty bottle of wine and his glass.

"But there's no one here."

"I still have a lot to do. It was nice talking to you Jess." He said before walking away.

He wanted to mentally kick himself in the head. Somehow he had the feeling that he had just made things worse for her and that was not his intention at all. He wanted to give her a few words of encouragement, to share with her what his roommates had told him when he had finally gotten over Caroline. But he should have known that girls read into matters differently. Their brains are not programmed the same way that men's are.

So now, as he cleaned up the mess that was left behind the bar, he felt a mixture of horrible and guilt. He had never intended to come across like he had been flirting with her. Sure, she was a gorgeous girl and he was mysteriously drawn to her; but she had baggage. The emotional place that she was currently in, was somewhere that he had no intention of ever reliving, having barely survived himself. And yet, somehow he felt like he had just lead her on, only to reject her at the end.

Nick lifted his head in the direction of his booth and watched as Jess walked quickly into the bathroom, with tears flowing down her eyes.

He felt nothing short of the biggest jerk right now.

xooxo

"Jess?" Nick called out.

He was standing at the entrance to the girl's bathroom, half in and half out, holding the door slightly open with his hand and calling out her name.

She had been in there for over twenty minutes and he was starting to get worried.

"Are you alright? Are you sick? Can I get you anything?"

"Leave me alone." She mumbled.

"Look, Jess, I'm sorry."

"Don't you have a bar to run?" she asked a little sarcastically.

Nick peeked his head inside the empty bathroom and saw which toilet stall she was locked into.

"Jess, can you come out so we can talk?"

"Why? So you can reject me again?" she said stubbornly. "He sounds like an idiot…because you're gorgeous…" she said mocking him a little.

"I _didn't_ reject you." he said lying quickly.

"It sure felt like that. Can you just go now? I want to sit in silence and hate my life."

"I'm coming in." he said ignoring her and walking up to her stall. "Please come out."

Jess sighed heavily and unlocked the door. "What?"

"I _meant_ what I said before." He said, when she was finally standing in front of him. "You _are _gorgeous, I just-"

Jess crushed her lips against Nick's so quickly and without a moment's hesitation that she surprised even herself. She moaned loudly when Nick responded with such force, deepening her kiss and using his tongue to flick small circles into her mouth. The kiss was nothing like she had ever experienced before in her life. It was hot and urging, desperate on her part and passionate on his and she could taste the Scotch that laced both their breaths.

When they pulled apart for air, Jess instantly became to feel embarrassed. She nervously fidgeted with her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry-" she said before Nick's lips cut her off mid-sentence.

Jess opened her mouth wider, allowing Nick to take full control over her mouth. She moaned loudly when his tongue found hers again and started to trace circles around it. He laughed a little at this, which resulted in a small jab in his stomach.

"Ouch, I'm sorry." He said pulling away.

Jess giggled loudly and leant in forward to kiss him again, pulling away however inches from his lips.

"I'm not usually like this…" she said blushing. "I don't 'come onto' guys." She said using her hands as inverted commas.

Nick wanted to tell her that he knew, but he didn't want her to take it as some kind of insult. He decided to act surprised.

"Really?"

"I think you are right. I need to get Spencer, my ex, out of my system." She said before biting down hard onto her bottom lip.

Seeing her do this drove Nick insane instantly. He wanted her.

He wanted her so badly.

"And how are you going to do that?" he asked, trying to see if they were on the same wavelength.

He definitely did not want to take advantage of a drunk, heartbroken girl.

"You." she whispered, pulling him into the bathroom stall and locking the door behind him. "I want you, Nick."

He was on the verge of telling her that the feeling was mutual, when her soft lips came crushing down on his again.

xoooxo

"So that was…unexpected…" she said as she re-clipped her bra and reached for her floral dress.

"Yeah," Nick said running his hand through his hair. "I think I bruised my butt."

They had ended up in his work office. He had told her that the bathroom was not the best place to have sex, seeing that at any moment someone could walk in on them and report them. She was kind of relieved and had later told him that she had a fear of germs.

"Do you want me to help you clean this mess up?" she asked when she was fully dressed.

"I can do it." he said pulling up his trousers. "Wow, we really trashed the place."

"It was worth it though." She said blushing slightly. "Thanks for giving me exactly what I needed."

"No problem at all, Jess."

"So, I should get going. I have this thing at one."

"Is it one already?" he asked looking at the watch on the wall, before pulling on his shirt.

"Yeah, almost why?"

"Uh, there's something that I need to do. That's all. I better hurry up and clean this room before Nate comes to relieve me for my break." He said bending down to pick up a few boxes and paperwork that they had thrown off the desk in their moment of passion.

"So, I'll see you around, I guess." She said shifting her feet nervously.

"I hope so." He said standing up when the room was semi-tidy. "Can I get your number maybe?"

"How about I just visit you at work? My phone is disconnected." She said lying quickly. "But, I know where to find you know."

"Okay." He said smiling at her.

"I got to get going, but this was fun Nick." She said before kissing him softly on the cheek and walking out.

xooxo

"So we are just waiting on our other roommate." The guy that was called Schmidt said.

"_Where is he?"_ Coach yelled impatiently.

"Relax, dude. He knows it's at one." Winston, the other guy said to his friend.

"So, Jessica was it?" Schmidt said, putting on a flirty voice that she instantly did not like. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"I'm a school teacher. I love to sing. I recently got dumped…two weeks ago, to be exact and I can't keep crashing at my best friend's place, so that's why I need to find a new place to live."

"So you're single now?" Schmidt said smiling to the others and raising his eyebrows up and down.

"Hey, don't get any ideas." Coach said sternly. "We all agreed that we needed a girl in here, but we are not to sleep with her."

"What?" Jess exclaimed loudly. "You guys thought that you would sleep with me?"

"No, we all signed a roommate agreement saying that the girl we chose to be our roommate is not to sleep with any of the guys…it makes things complicated." He said continuing.

"Good, because no offense, I don't want to sleep with any of you." she said quickly. "I mean, you all seem like nice guys but I'm _kind of _seeing someone."

"I thought you were dumped?" Schmidt said angrily.

"I was, but I met someone…_today,_ actually." She said blushing a little.

"Someone moved on _fast."_ Schmidt whispered to Winston.

Jess was about to call him on that, but the front door to the loft opened suddenly and the other roommate they were waiting on walked inside.

"Sorry that I'm late guys. Is she here?" he asked, closing the door.

"Nicholas, I was worried _sick_ about you! You are half an hour late. Why don't you answer your phone?!" Schmidt snapped, sounding more like a concerned parent than a friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm here now." He said freezing in his tracks.

He could not believe his eyes._ "Jess?"_ he asked as his eyes widened visibly in shock.

_"Nick?"_ she asked, feeling equally as surprized.

xooxo

_Review? Love it? Hate it? Thoughts? _

_Thank you _

_Paris xxx_


	2. It's a small world afterall

"Nicholas, what is going on? Do you know this girl?" Schmidt asked crossing his hand over his chest.

Everyone in the loft had their full attention on him, including Jess, the girl he had only just hooked up with a half hour before, which he still found to be extremely weird and awkward.

Nick scoffed loudly and did his best turtle face. "No. Why would you say that? I just meet her Schmidt."

"You too seem a little too _friendly _for people that just met. Plus, you're acting weird."

"How did you know each other's name?" Winston asked suspiciously.

_Great, not Winston too!_ Nick thought sighing heavily. He never was a good liar. It always showed. Soon enough his story will start to have holes in it where he can't remember everything that he had said and then the sweating would start…

"I thought I heard you guys say it earlier today. Remember when I was leaving for work and you said 'don't be late, we are interviewing a girl called _Jess _at one today'."

"Who said that?" Schmidt snapped quickly.

"You did buddy, remember?" Nick said laughing nervously and squeezing his friend's shoulder a little hard to inflict some kind of pain.

"I don't remember saying that at all. Nick, are you lying to me?"

"What? No! I told you, I just met her now."

Schmidt jumped off the edge of the sofa and walked up to Nick quickly. "Let me see your back."

"No, Schmidt." Nick said walking in the opposite direction when he had figured out what his was going to do next.

"Nick, stop moving, I want to see your back."

"Not in front of our guest, Schmidt." He said half-yelling. "Can you please just grow up for once?"

But it was too late. Schmidt had cornered him against the fridge and he had nowhere to go. With one quick movement, that made Nick feel extremely vulnerable and violated at the same time, Schmidt stuck his hand under the small of Nick's back. It was only there for a second, but that was long enough to prove his point.

"Disgusting! It's saturated!" he said wiping his moist hand on the nearest hand towel he could find. "You are the _worst _liar in the world, sweat-back! So why don't you tell us the truth?"

"What's going on?" Jess asked Winston from the couch.

"Uh, Nick sort of has this _thing _whenever he is lying…he gets really sweaty and clammy."

"Oh." Jess said quietly.

"So, how do you know Nick?" Winston asked her.

Something told her that he too was not buying the lie that Nick had said before.

Jess thought of her own little lie to say. These were complete strangers, they would never be able to read her as well as they did Nick, seeing that she had only just met them. But nothing believable came to mind.

"Look, I really _don't care_ how you two know each other." Coach said almost yelling loudly and making Jess jump a little out of her skin. "I have to be back at work in twenty minutes, so can we just do this interview?"

"Yes, that's an excellent idea Coach!" Nick said agreeing with his friend and taking a spot in the couch to face Jess.

"I'm _not_ buying any of this Nick," Schmidt said quickly making all of them groan loudly. "But for the purpose of time, yes, we can get back to our interview for now. You and I, however…" he said pointing to Nick. "…are not through with this conversation."

"So, Jess…" Nick said changing the subject. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"She already did!" Coach yelled impatiently. "She told us when we were waiting for you! You were half an hour late, Nick! She's a teacher. She sings a lot. She was dumped and can't live with her best friend anymore. Moving on…"

"Anything else?" Nick asked, picking up on a little of Jess' uncomfortableness.

Coach was the most impatient person in the history of the world, and to his friends who knew him well enough; they had come to know that it was only a part of his personality. To a stranger like Jess however, it could be a little intimidating. He would have to speak to her about him later.

"I'm clean. I can cook. I find housework relaxing and I enjoy it."

"That's okay, we actually already have a loft maid." Nick said nodding towards Schmidt. "He is very domesticated."

"Somebody has to be, in order to clean up after _your _mess, Nick." He said snapping defensively. "So are you one of those girls that _says _that she likes cleaning, but is lying? Because I just need to know from know if you are messy. I can't look after another full grown adult. Nicholas is bad enough. Seriously, this guy would have _no _clean clothes if it weren't for me always doing his laundry!"

Nick felt like he had just taken a hard punch to the gut.

_Way to go, Schmidt,_ he thought angrily, _nice way to put him down in front of the girl he happened to like._

"I actually love cleaning." She said honestly. "I'm more than happy to look after my own clothes, so there is no need for you to have to do any of them. And as far as cooking or cleaning the kitchen, bathroom or loft goes…is there like a schedule where one person does it one week? Or do you have allocated chores?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Schmidt scoffed loudly. "Didn't you hear, Nick before? No one cleans here. I'm practically the _loft maid!"_

"Well that doesn't seem very fair to you. I'm sure that you could benefit from having some help, right?"

Schmidt nodded dramatically and looked in the direction of his other roommates, to see if they were taking any of this in. The other three just rolled their eyes quickly, dismissing their drama queen friend.

"Moving on…" Coach said, getting everyone's attention again. "How are you with bringing home people?"

"What do you mean?" she asked a little confused.

"I mean, are you one of those girls that have a hundred different types of _brainless _friends that are always going to be walking in and out of our loft? Or do you keep to yourself?"

"I have friends but most of the time we are too busy to see each other. We all work conflicting schedules, so we can only meet up on special occasions. But my best friend, Cece, the one that I have been crashing at her place…she's a model and she's the only person I really see like every day."

"I'm sorry, she's a model?" Schmidt asked quickly. "Do you have a photo of her?"

"Yeah, I have tonnes on my phone, why?"

"Never mind him. He is just being a perve." Nick said, encouraging Jess to put her phone away.

"What about boyfriends?" Coach asked. "Will you be bringing them into the loft when you start dating again?"

"That would be my intention, unless there's some kind of rule that says that we are not allowed. " She said, frowning a little. "Why? Are we not allowed to bring anyone back?"

"No you are. But I am just trying to prepare myself in the evident that you are one of those girls that changes boyfriends like they are underwear. I really hate meeting _new _people! So if you intend on bringing home different men, please spare me the trouble of having to meet them. I don't need to be introduced to someone that will not be in the picture for long."

"Hey!" Jess exclaimed loudly. "I don't know what gave you the impression that I am some kind of… _floozy! _But I assure you that I am not like that at all."

'Good." Coach said snapping loudly. "Now, I know we briefly touched on it before, but Nick was not here. So I will say it again. Our roommate agreement clearly states that _if_ you are our successful candidate that you are _not _to sleep with any of the guys in this loft. Is that clear?"

Jess swallowed a little hard and briefly looked up at Nick for a spilt second. He quickly turned his eyes down to the ground.

"Do you understand, Jess?" Coach asked impatiently.

"Yes." She mumbled quietly.

"Good, because if we decide on you later. You too will have to sign the agreement and Jess; the terms are different for you. If you happen to sleep with any of the men in this loft, you will be evicted immediately. We cannot have a hostile loft. We are not going to pick sides, so please save us any trouble and find men elsewhere. "

"I know it must be so _hard _for you right now, given the current emotionally state that you are in." Schmidt said, trying to sympathise with her. "But it's for the best."

"So there is just one last thing to discuss…"Winston said. "We all share expenses here. Food, electricity, bills…so are you alright with chipping in weekly, like the rest of us or would you rather we change our agreement for once a fortnight?"

'Weekly is fine."

"Great. Well, I think that's it." he said smiling.

"So did I get it?" Jess squeaked excitedly.

"Actually, we need to take a vote." Schmidt said quickly. "Gentlemen, let's go to the bathroom."

"Can't we just do it here?" Nick asked scrunching up his face.

"So _she _can see?" he sneered, rolling his eyes quickly. "No, Nicholas. Let's go. Jess, we will be right back…this won't take long."

"Okay," she said stretching her arms put in front of her. "Please vote _yes _guys." She called out after them sweetly.

"Well, it's obviously a yes from me." Schmidt said when they had all gotten inside the bathroom and closed the door.

Nick rolled his eyes at his lame friend. He knew the moment the word _model _was mentioned that it was always going to be a yes.

"She seems nice enough, so it's a yes from me too." Winston said smiling.

"No." Coach said loudly.

"What?" Schmidt and Winston said in unison.

"I don't like her…she's too happy. Plus she said that she likes singing a lot. I hate people who sing, hum and whistle!"

"Well it comes down to you Nicholas," Schmidt said stating the obvious. "If you say no, then we will have a tie and then we will more than likely have to keep considering other candidates."

"I don't know guys…" he said trailing off quickly.

He was in two minds about this whole thing. A part of him wanted to say _yes. _That way he got to see her more often. She had really, in such a short time, infatuated him and the more dominant part of him wanted to spend more time getting to know the mysterious girl. But on the other hand, he knew that her living under his roof would more than likely mean the end of their situation. Jess would be forced to sign the roommate agreement and that would mean that they were never to have sex again. He wasn't sure what he wanted more.

"Come on, Nick!" Coached yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Please don't make me decide this now. Can I have some more time to think about it?" he asked, starting to feel extremely nervous and sweaty.

"No! You need to decide now! Make a decision…yes or no. It's not that hard!" he said continuing to yell.

'Stop pressuring me." He said putting his hoodie over his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nice going, Coach! Now you freaked him out." Schmidt said rolling his eyes.

"NICK, YOU'RE WEAK!"

"Come on Nick, she doesn't seem that bad." Winston said trying to persuade his friend. "Do you remember the girl that we interviewed _before_ Jess? She that she was in-between jobs and that she would need to go with the flow until she found her way in life! You don't want someone like that, do you?"

He shook his head quickly to say no.

"Or what about the other girl? The one with the bad acne and dandruff snowflakes, Nick?" Schmidt asked. "I'm still extremely scarred to sit on our couch, despite thoroughly scrubbing it."

"COME ON NICK!"

The truth was, he knew that he wasn't going to find someone better than Jess. _The go with the flow girl, _was a lost cause; she was looking for an easy ride. Somewhere to crash because she had just broken up with her loser boyfriend. Nick had gotten the feeling that she had no intention of ever paying rent, until she had found her next victim to date. He really did not like her one bit.

_Dandruff girl, _was slightly better, but she too made him feel extremely uncomfortable to be around. Nick was not the cleanest person alive, but he showered every second day. She obviously showered one a week, based on the condition of her face and hair; and that honestly disgusted him a bit.

The girl before them was the biggest _prude. _She was super religious despite claiming to have left her sect of a religion. She was still trying her best to adapt and break away from their traditions about men and women living together without being married. Nick had the feeling that she would bring out the Bible whenever she was faced with a conflicting situation and he honestly did not want to be on his best behaviour around someone like that. Not to mention, the lectures he would surely receive from the good book whenever he brought a different girl home. He had said no to her easily.

"NICK, I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" Coach yelled.

_Just go with your gut, Nick. _

_Jess is a lovely girl, but can you really see anything more than a fling with her?_ He thought to himself.

_It was a classic head versus penis scenario._ His head knew that realistically they were doomed from the start. Jess was just coming out of a really long relationship. She was vulnerable and confused. He was more than likely going to be her _rebound_ guy, whether they liked it or not. And over the years of working in a bar, he had learnt that rebounds never last. So a part of him knew that he should just say _yes_, and give the poor girl a place to stay.

_They had one fun day together, that would be enough, right? It wasn't like he had feelings for her or anything! _

But his penis did not give up that easily. The truth was, he kind of liked her a lot. She was very different from the other girls that he had been with before. There was something about her that drew him towards her. He wanted to see where they would go from here. He wanted to sleep with her again, because she had just given him the best sex of his life and he was not ready to let that go.

"NICK!"

Nick closed his eyes and thought of Jess quickly. He pictured her sitting on the couch in the living room, lonely and alone. He pictured the way that he had found her in the morning. Eyes bloodshot red…desperate and hopeless..

He sighed heavily. He couldn't disappoint her again. She really needed a place to stay and that should be _enough_ reason to at least put one good thing in her life in order for her.

"Yes." He said, his voice hoarse and just above a whisper.

"FINALLY!"

"Hallelujah!" Schmidt cried out, kissing him on the lips quickly.

"I really _hate _when you do that, Schmidt!" he said angrily, wiping his lips.

"Let's go and tell her." Winston said opening the bathroom door.

xooxo

"So, it's a yes?!" Jess said excitedly when they had just broken the news to her.

Nick nodded solemnly. He was still not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jess said flinging her arms around Schmidt and Winston quickly, before running to do the same to Coach and then Nick.

"I don't like hugs, so in future, don't ever do that to me again." Coach said quickly.

"Got it." she said winking at him playfully.

She had no idea that he was being serious.

"So when can I move in? Is the room available?"

"You can move in whenever." Schmidt said.

"Great, I'll do it today. Most of my stuff is in the car and the rest is at Cece's."

"You still need to show me that photo." He said reminding her.

"I'll do one better, Schmidt. I'll invite her over tonight." She said smiling. "That way she can meet you all."

"Fantastic." Coach said sarcastically. "I'm going back to work now. See you guys tonight."

"Bye, Coach!" Jess called out after him. "It was nice to meet you! Thank you for saying yes."

They all figured that it was best that she didn't know that he had voted against her.

"Well, Winstonian are you heading back to the Station? Do you want me to give you a lift on my way to work? I have to get back; I have a meeting with Japan at two-thirty."

"Yeah, let's go." Winston said. "It was nice to meet you, Jess. Welcome to the loft."

"Yes, welcome Jess." Schmidt said holding open the door for Winston, "Don't forget to invite your friend tonight, okay? See you later."

And with that they were both gone. Nick sighed heavily. How did he get stuck being with Jess when everyone else had already left? _He should have left first! _ He thought mentally kicking himself in the head for being so stupid. Now this was going to be very awkward….

"Is he…gay?" Jess asked, breaking the awkward silence first.

"Who? Schmidt?" he asked laughing. "No."

"But he seems…very-"

"-Metrosexual?" Nick asked finishing her sentence.

"Yes."

"That's because he is. Oddly enough he's not gay. Don't be fooled by how clean, organised and _domesticated_ he is…he's very much _into_ women. You will see that when you move in. He has a different girl almost every night."

"Oh." She said quietly.

Another awkward silence fell over them again.

"Winston seems nice." She said, being the one to break it again.

"He is." Nick said nodding in agreement. "He is a great guy."

He wasn't really sure what to say now. He was never really good at small talk.

"Does Coach _hate me_ or something? He kept _yelling _at me." She asked in a quirky voice.

"He yells at everyone. Don't take it personally."

"Okay, because I was worried that he was going to say _no."_

Nick didn't have the heart to tell her that he did. The last thing he wanted was for her to be reading too much into Coach not liking her. He didn't see the need to complicate things. In time she would get to know Coach and all the aspects of his impatient and yelling personality.

He looked at his watch. He really needed to be getting back to the bar now. Nate would be starting to get worried.

"So about before…"

"Jess, I uh, have to go back to the bar." Nick said quickly cutting her off. "Can we talk later?"

"Sure." She said nodding, tying her best to cover up her disappointment.

"Here are your keys." He said passing her a set that was on the bench counter.

"Schmidt said that I would need to leave the first two months deposit with him before I got them." She said reaching into her bag for an envelope. "So, I'll, uh just give this to you then, right?"

"Thanks, I'll give that to him later. He handles all the bills and expenses. We all just give him our share."

"Okay," Jess said nodding.

"So, do you want a quick tour?" Nick asked, feeling a little slack to just leave her in an empty, unfamiliar loft by herself.

"Sure, if you have time."

"Kitchen and livingroom you've already seen. This room is Schmidt's." Nick said walking her quickly into Schmidt's room.

"Wow, he's so neat."

"The room next door is Winston's." he said quickly weaving out of Schmidt's and heading into the next room. "Last room down the hall, is Coach's. I would show you his room, but he freaks out. Maybe he will show you himself one day. Bathroom," he said pointing to the room. "We only have one toilet and shower in this whole place, so we tend not to look the door when we shower. There's a thick curtain as you can tell, so nobody can see you when you're in there and we keep it take way in case someone needs to use the toilet."

Jess scrunched up her face quickly. Nick could tell that she was not too impressed with their arrangement.

"Look, I'll talk the guys into letting you lock the door while you shower. If you take quick ones, I'm sure that they can hold it in."

"Thanks."

"Also, in case you ever want to use the toilet while one of us is showering, you can't flush the toilet, because the water becomes freezing cold. The pipping is really bad in here, but we get by."

"That's not going to be a problem. I don't ever intend on using the toilet while one of you guys are in there. I can just wait, I'm good at holding it in."

Nick laughed loudly. "You say that now, but be warned Schmidt takes extremely long showers. That guy exfoliates! I tell you, he is _worse_ than a girl!"

"Are you sure that he is not gay?"

"Bring your model friend over tonight and test that theory," Nick said exiting the bathroom. "This is your room. It's the biggest room of the house, I really hope you like it."

"Nick, its perfect." Jess said walking in and taking in the whole room. "I love it. The big windows are beautiful. Do they open?"

"They do and you can climb out of them, which I do not advise."

Jess shot Nick a quick look.

"Long story." He mumbled. "The room directly opposite yours is mine." He said pointing to his closed door. "And that's the loft. Welcome, I hope you feel at home."

"You're not going to show me your room?" she asked, sounding disappointed.

"It's a mess." He said lying a little. "I'll show you it another time. I really should be getting back to the bar. What are you going to do now?"

"Move my stuff in." she said sighing heavily and walking around the room a little.

"Do you need help with your stuff?" Nick asked feeling the need to offer help, to appear like somewhat of a gentleman.

"That's nice of you. But you have work. I can do it myself. Thanks anyway, Nick."

"How about you move the things that you can lift and when I get home, I'll help you with the rest? I should be finished by four today."

"That sounds great." She said smiling. "Thanks."

xoxo


	3. 20 Questions

"Hey girl, can you talk?" Jess asked her friend Cece over the phone.

"Only for a second babe. I'm in hair and makeup at the moment. I have a gig today for Victoria Secret."

"Ooh nice!" she said enthusiastically "You've been dying to become a Victoria Secret Angel for a while! Has it finally happened?"

"Not quite. Most of the Angels are in Milan for Fashion Week, so they needed an exotic looking model to fill-in, my agent recommended me. What's up babe?"

"I found a place to stay!" she squeaked excitedly.

"Jess, you didn't have to. I told you that you are more than welcome to keep staying with me and Nadia."

"Umm Nadia honestly _scares_ me, Cece. The other day when you were out, she was eating fruit with a sharp knife."

"She's not that scary, Jess." Her friend said laughing. "I get along fine with her."

"Well, you should have seen the way she _jabbed_ the knife into the watermelon pieces and fed herself…I was so scared that I actually locked myself into the bathroom until you came home."

"Wait a minute, I thought you said you had diarrhea yesterday?"

"I only said that because she was staring at me like a psycho and I had just spent a full hour locked up in the bathroom waiting for you to get home."

Cece laughed loudly. "Nadia is harmless. She can be a little weird sometimes but that's only because her English is so limited. A lot of the time things are _lost in translation _when it comes to her. But she will never hurt you, Jess."

"Well regardless, I can't keep sharing a bed with you or sleeping on your couch. You need your space and after yesterday I don't feel at all comfortable sleeping on your couch while Nadia is around."

"Where's the place, babe?" Cece asked changing the subject.

"It's about twenty minutes from you. It's a loft, so it's a lot cheaper than renting an apartment. There's four roomates…they are all guys. I like three of them, the other is a _yeller. _He kind of freaks me out. Apparently I will get used to his personality and he yells at everyone all the time. Oh, and there's this one thing…I _kind of _had sex with one of the roomates-"

"-JESS!" Cece exclaimed loudly, cutting over her friend before she could finish her sentence. "You slept with one of the guys? _Already?"_

"No, it's not like that. I had slept with him _before _I knew he lived in the loft as well. In my defence, I was totally drunk and it just happened. He seems really nice though, he's going to help me move my stuff in later when he finishes work."

"Where did you met this guy? And how come you never told me about him?"

"It literally just happened today, Cece. I went to this bar because I was upset about Spencer and I had some time to kill before my roommate interview. He's name is Nick and he works there."

"He's a bartender?!" she asked loudly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, Jess. I just thought when you move on from Spencer you would go for someone more grounded in life!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Spencer was a douche. I never liked him and you wasted like six years of your life with him. He was immature and lazy, but you never listened to me until you caught him cheating. Now you are going for a _bartender,_ Jess?! You deserve so much better for yourself!"

"You don't even know him." She said defensively. "He's actually a sweet guy. I mean I know I've only known him for like an hour, but I really like him, Cece."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, Jess, that's all."

"How about you come over to dinner tonight and meet the guys? That way you can meet Nick too. I'm sure you will love him."

"How about another time? I'll let you get settled into your new place first and then I'll meet them. I don't want to intrude."

"No, Cece please…I already told them that you would be coming over for dinner and they are all so excited!"

"Even the _yeller?_" she asked a little surprised.

"Sure. I mean, he didn't tell me _not_ to invite you. Please? Plus there's this one guy that is like _super _excited to meet you. Please say you will come?"

"Ugh. Jess, did you tell him that I was a model? I hate it when you tell guys that. They spend the whole night _drooling_ at me."

"Just please come for me?" she begged avoiding her best friend's question.

"Fine." Cece whined.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'll pick you up at eight. Love you."

"See you then, Jess." She said before hanging up the phone.

xoxo

"Jess?" Nick asked walking into the loft and walking around the place. "Jess are you home?"

It was a little after four thirty and he had promised to help her move some of her things inside the loft. Usually, he wasn't exactly a man of his word. Nick Miller was naturally lazy when it came to any forms of hard, manual labour; but he liked her. He liked her a lot and so he wanted to make a good impression on her.

"I'm in my room." She called out loudly and he headed in the direction of her voice.

Nick knocked on the half-open door. "Can I come in?"

"Yes." She said walking over to open the door wider for him.

"Wow, Jess! This room is looking good. You've really done a lot." He said admiring the things she had already unpacked.

"Thanks, Nick." She said placing her hands on her hips and stepping back to admire all the hard work she had done.

"Uh, Jess?"

"Hmmm."

"Where's your bed?" he asked frowning a little. "Oh…Is it still in your car?"

"Actually, _funny story_…" she said laughing nervously. "I don't have one."

"What- _what_ do you mean, you don't have one?" Nick asked scrunching his face a little confused.

She figured he didn't really understand what was going on, so she would have to fill him in on the embarassing details.

"I, uh shared a bed with Spencer, my-"

"-ex." He said finishing her sentence. "Go on."

"Well, when we broke up we kind of _divided_ all our things and the thing he really _wanted _was my bed."

"He kept your bed?!" Nick yelled a little, making her jump in a similar way that Coach did. "Who does that, Jess?"

"I know right? Because I paid for it and everything." She said pushing her glasses up on her face. "He had this shitty single bed when we moved in and it was my idea to buy a king size bed...which I paid for myself, he never contributed towards it. But he wanted it, so I left it for him. Apparently his girlfriend, the one he cheated on me with said it was the '_best bed that she had ever slept in'..._ So then I felt slack because it was like two against one._" _

"Jess!" Nick groaned a little. He couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. "You're too nice. You shouldn't let people walk all over you like that."

"I don't mind. I ordered a new bed today, after I knew I got the room but it's not available until the weekend. So it looks like I will either be sleeping on the couch in the living room or in Spencer's sleeping bag. He _traded_ it to me when he kept the bed."

"You are _not _sleeping in a sleeping bag, Jess!" Nick said quickly. "Or on the living room couch. They are both so uncomfortable!"

"Then where am I going to sleep, Nick?" she asked pushing up her glasses again. "I can't sleep at Cece's because her roommate is a complete psycho."

Nick sighed heavily and started to pace the open floor space in her room, where her bed would have been.

"You can sleep with me."

"What- what about the roommate agreement?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No one else needs to know, Jess. Your room locks, so this is what we are going to do... You are not going to tell the others that you have no bed yet. And you definitely do not want to let any of them in your room until you get one." he said continuing to pace up and down the small floor space.

"Isn't too risky? I mean if we get caught, I'll be evicted."

"As long as you keep your door locked until you buy a bed no one will ever find out. The guys will think that you have a bed and they won't think anything of you having your room locked. After all, you're a girl in an unfamiliar place with four guys...complete strangers who happen to be your roommates, so it makes perfect sense that you would lock the door until you become comfortable. Then when everyone has gone to bed tonight, I will come and sneak you into my room and we can sleep. My room locks too, so even if they wanted to they couldn't come in."

"Okay…"

"In the morning, I'll sneak you out again."

"And are you sure that we won't get caught? Because I really need this place to live, Nick! It's so much cheaper than all the other places I've looked at."

"Jess!" Nick said grabbing both of her shoulders with his hands. "We will be fine. Relax. My plan is genius! It's a fullproof plan, Jessica Day!" he said smiling smugly. "As long as you keep your door locked at all times, it's going to be alright. We are not going to get caught. Trust me."

"I hope so." She mumbled, not fully convinced with Nick's genius foolproof plan.

"So what else do you need help with unpacking? Are there still boxes in your car?"

"I left the heavy things I couldn't lift for you...like you said. I'll show you where I parked my car."

"We better get them up here before the others come home and see that you have no bed in your room." Nick said as they walked towards the loft's exit.

xoxo

"That's the last box." Nick said, before closing her car boot and picking up the box by the edge of the sidewalk. "This one is like extremely heavy, Jess. What is in here?"

"Books." She said smiling. "I read a lot."

Nick smiled a little comfortably and prayed that Jess wouldn't ask him if he read. He hadn't picked up a book in years. In fact, it had been so long since he had last read anything for pleasure that he had forgotten the name of the last book he had even read.

"Do you read?" she asked, holding the door to the apartment complex open for him.

He was waiting for that one. So far they had played twenty questions while they were bringing her remaining boxes up to the loft. She had asked him if he could draw, because Spencer drew in his spare time. He had obviously said no. He was the most uncoordinated, untalented person alive on the planet earth. She then asked him if he fished because according to her _'all guys loved to fish'_. He couldn't really tell if she was relieved or disappointed to find out that he was one of the only men alive that did not fish.

"_I don't like fish Jess…they freak me out. They breathe under water. That's not natural."_ He had replied and she had given him a weird look before moving on to the next question.

Every question that he answered felt as if she was judging him; almost as if to see how _compatible_ they were for each other. It felt like she was seeing if he met all the right ticks in her check list.

But so far, the biggest thing that would determine how compatible they were for each other was the _reading _test.

"Nick?" Jess asked, waving a free hand in front of his face to get his attention.

"Sorry." He said blinking, slowly coming back to reality.

"Do you read?" she asked again enthusiastically, before hitting the elevator button.

"Sometimes." He said shrugging a little.

Nick watched as her face lit up with excitement and wondered if _sometimes _was enough to get another box checked on her list.

So he lied. He felt kind of horrible, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that they _only_ thing he read was the tv guide. After all, reading must have been one of the things that she was most passionate about, judging by the strain he was now experiencing from lugging her extremely heavy box around for her.

The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside quickly. Nick silently prayed that old elevator would not take too long to get to their floor, because the box was starting to unbelievably hard to hold and his tired arms could not support its weight anymore. Of course he could just put the box on the ground until they arrived at their floor, but he was stubborn and he wanted to impress Jess in any way that he could.

"So what's your favourite book?" she asked when the doors finally chimed open.

"My favourite book?" he asked, as his eyes widened in shock at the question.

"Yeah." She said unlocking the door to the loft and allowing him to step inside, before locking it shut behind them again.

"Where do you want this?" he asked avoiding the question by changing subject.

_Crisis averted. _He thought smiling smugly to himself in satisfaction.

"You can put it on the floor, over there, by the other boxes." She said laughing a little. "So…what's your favourite book?"

Nick sighed heavily. He really had made a mess of things now! He couldn't even remember a _single_ book title to save his life. Well other than _Twilight_…everyone always talked about that stupid book! But Jess wouldn't believe him if he said that, would she?

"My favourite book is, _uh,_ well you see I have a few, Jess." He said running his hands through his hair nervously. "It's kind of hard narrowing it down to _just _one, because there are so _many _that I really, really love."

He could feel his back building with sweat.

"So you're like a _full on_ reader then." She said pushing up her glasses on her face and smiling at him. "What's in your top ten, then?"

"My top ten?" he asked repeating the question, a little confused.

"Your top then books, Nick." She said laughing at him.

"Let's see…I really love The Shinning, The Green Mile, Misery, Carrie-"

"-Are you just _quoting_ Stephen King movies…or have you actually read his books, Nick?" she asked raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Uh, _of course_ I've read his books! Back home in Chicago, I have his _whole_ collection! I was so obsessed with Stephen King, that my friends used to make fun of me."

"Oh okay." She said smiling. "That's pretty cool."

He hoped that this would be enough to convince her that he read. Nick breathed a sigh of relief…Thank goodness he listened to Schmidt whenever he rambled on for hours about how Stephen King was the best author and how most of his films were turned into equally great movies. At the end of the day, it had really come down to remembering Stephen King movies that had saved him now.

"So that's four." Jess said snapping him back to reality. "What's the other six?"

"The other six what, Jess?" he asked frowning. He never did have a great attention span. His teachers at school had always said that he easily got distracted from basic tasks.

"Your other six books in your top ten, silly."

"Uh, I also really enjoy… the _Harry Potter_ collection?" He said squirming a little. "How many books are there again in that?"

"Seven." She said smiling a little.

He had no idea if Harry Potter counted as great literature but he heard lots of Asians talk about it at his bar when the place was not too full, much to his honest dislike.

"So your collection is essentially made up of Stephen King and JK Rowling. _Nice_."

"What, uh, are you favourite books?" he asked. He really didn't care but he figured he would be polite. "What's your top ten, Jess?"

"It's mainly the classics…I love _anything_ Austen, so like Pride and Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma… I also really love Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, North & South, Vanity Fair, Tess D'Urbervilles, Great Expectations and To Kill a Mocking Bird."

"Cool." He said clapping his hands together. He had literally never heard anything on that list before except Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mocking Bird.

Caroline was always reading Pride and Prejudice and had tried many _unsuccessful_ times to persuade him to read it, but he never did, because he could never get past the first boring page.

And he would never justify reading To Kill a Mocking Bird when he could just watch the movie.

"Have you read any of those?" Jess asked, as she started to unpack her most recent box; the one with all the books.

"No. But I want to read some of them. You have a much better list than me, Jess." He said trying to seem convincing.

"Well, you are more than welcome to borrow them anytime, Nick. I have heaps of books." She said as she started to fill her bookshelf up with the collection of books.

"Thanks Jess." He said smiling at the thoughtful gesture.

Even though he had no intention ever of taking her up on her offer, he still found the suggestion so sweet. She really was a special girl.

"Well, I'm going to hop in the shower now before dinner." He said looking down at his watch. "It's almost six, so the others will be coming home shortly. Remember to keep this door locked and don't let anyone in here until you get your bed, okay?"

Jess nodded. "Thanks Nick, for helping me with the boxes."

"It was my pleasure, Jess."

xoxo

"The answer is NO, Schmidt." Winston said walking into the loft. "Can you please just drop it?"

"Oh come on, Winston! You have no idea what you are missing out on!" he said begging his friend. "I really need this! Can't you _please _just do this for me?"

"Hell no, Schmidt! I am _not_ going with you to a day spa! I have literally said no for the last half hour…can't you take Nick instead?"

"Nick? Winston, _really?_" he snapped annoyed. "Did you not listen to anything I said? It's a _couple's _day spa…Nick and I would never _pass_ as a couple, Winston and you know it!"

"We do not pass as a couple either!" Winston said yelling out the sentence slowly for emphasis. "I have a girlfriend, man! How do you think Shelby will react when she hears that I went with some dude to a _couples _day spa?"

"It's not _some dude, _okay? It's me, Schmidt…your oldest friend, Winston. As _your_ people would say '_help a brother out.'"_

"Never quote my people again, unless you want to get punched in the face."

"So, will you come with me or not?"

"NO!"

"What's going on?" Jess asked walking up to the two guys fighting in the living room.

"He's being weird." Winston said pointing an index finger at Schmidt.

"He is being stubborn!" Schmidt said at the same time as Winston. "He won't come with me to this day spa. My boss at work gave me vouchers but they can only be redeemed when you take someone else. Its a couple's spa and I told her that I was seeing someone. I lied. I didn't want people in my office making fun of me because I've been single for a while." He said avoiding Jess' eyes and looking around the room quickly. "And now the vouchers expire in three days and I have nobody to go with me."

"I'll go." Jess said smiling. "I mean, only if you can't find somebody to go with you before then."

"That could work." Schmidt said nodding hotly. "Yeah, that could work."

"Thank you, Jess!" Winston said planting a small kiss on her cheek quickly. "I knew voting yes to you living with us would pay off."

"Aww thanks, Winston. That's so sweet." She said touching the spot on her cheek where he planted the kiss.

"Don't even go _there_." Schmidt said pointing a finger at Jess when Winston had walked into his bedroom. "Three words… Girlfriend and Roommate Agreement."

"Isn't that four words?" she asked correcting him.

"Did you invite your model, friend tonight?" he asked swallowing his apparent embarrassment before changing the subject.

"I did and she said yes. So I will pick her up at eight."

"Excellent!" he said smiling widely. "I am very excited to meet her. Is Nicholas out of the shower yet? I need to exfoliate before she comes."

xoxo

"WHERE'S THE TV REMOTE?" Coach yelled from the other room.

Jess gulped loudly, her body trembling slightly from fear and contemplated whether or not to tell him where she had put it.

"Hey, Coach… I didn't know you were home." She said walking into the living room to find him ripping apart the couch cushions.

"Did you touch the remote?"

"I did. I left it by the TV, see." She said walking up to the TV and retrieving it quickly to pass it to him. "Here you go. I thought it actually made more _sense_ to keep it by the TV than to have it hidden in the couch…it took me a while to find it when you guys were all out. I had no idea where it was." she said laughing nervously.

Coach closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten. He had promised Nick that he would be extra nice to their new roommate, but she was already starting to test his non-existent patience.

"The remote stays in the couch, Jess for easy access…_got it_?"

Jess nodded quickly and walked back towards her bedroom. There was no point pleading her case with him however logical her suggestion was. He honestly scared her too much.

xoxo

"Ugh, I'm so nervous." Cece said as they walked into the open elevator of Jess' new building.

"Don't be. They are all really nice, _except_ for Coach. He is the ones that yells. If I was being honest, he scares me a lot, but on a different level of how much Nadia scares me."

"Which one did you sleep with again?"

"Nick."

"And the one you think is gay is called what? I remember he had a funny sounding name."

"Schmidt. He's like supposably this big ladies' man, but I don't think the other guys see that he is like a _closet_ gay. When he came home from work today, he was begging Winston- he's the one with the girlfriend- to go to this couples day spa with him."

"Eww. That's definitely gay." Cece said scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"I know, right?! How come none of the others see it?"

Cece shrugged. "Boys can be clueless babe."

"Okay, so here goes." Jess said as she slotted the key into the door. "Just be yourself okay, I'm sure they will love you."

Cece smiled faintly. She had no idea why she was so nervous. Maybe it had to do with meeting four unknown men all at once; but she figured if Jess could do it so easily, she should be fine as well, right?

"Hey guys," Jess said walking into the living room. "As promised this is my friend, Cece."

"Hi everyone." Cece said sweetly, waving her hand a little to greet the guys hello.

Schmidt quickly jumped over the couch he was sitting on and skid across the floor to stop in front of the girls.

"Hello Cece. WOW, you are even _more_ beautiful than I envisioned." He said taking her hand and bringing it slowly to his lips to kiss it.

"You must be Nick." She said smiling.

"Actually, that's Schmidt." Jess whispered to her friend.

"_Nick?_ God no. Nick is over there watching TV…being all _anti-social._" He said nodding his head quickly in his direction. "I'm Schmidt and I don't know if Jess has told you already, but I've been _dying_ to meet you. And _you_ have totally been worth the wait, Cecelia. I like that. Can I call you Cecelia?"

Cece smirked a little uncomfortably and pulled back her hand quickly. "Cece is fine."

"Hi, I'm Winston. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Cece said shaking his extended hand.

"I'm Coach. I don't usually like meeting new people, but I have to be completely honest you are drop dead gorgeous. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Woah! Somebody is forward." She said laughing nervously.

"Back off man, I already called dibs on her earlier." Schmidt said nudging him hard.

"I'm sorry, but you called _dibs _on me?"

"Schmidt's_ weird_ like that. He was telling the truth, he has been dying to meet you all day." Nick said joining the others finally. "I'm Nick."

"Cece." She said shaking his hand.

"I've heard a lot about you from Jess. I feel like I know you already."

Cece smiled sweetly and was about to say that she had heard a lot about him too, but Jess spoke first.

"Okay, should we eat?" she asked heading over to the kitchen.

"Sure." Cece said following her friend. "I'm starving."

"Actually Jessica, I need to quickly speak to the men of this apartment _urgently_…" Schmidt said and all the guys groaned in unison. "This will only take a second. Let's go to the bathroom. Be right back soon Jess….Cecelia…" he said smiling sweetly before leaving the room.

" Uh yeah, Jess I'm with the guys on_ this_. He _aint_ gay."

xoxo

"What is it Schmidt?" Nick groaned when he had gathered the guys inside the bathroom and locked the door.

"This is_ clearly_ about Cece…" he started and the guys all groaned loudly. "I like her and you are all _stealing_ my thunder! Remember who's idea it was for her to come to dinner tonight and back off, okay?"

"How am I stealing your thunder, Schmidt? I just said '_hi' _to her." Nick said frowning a little confused.

"Hey Cece…I've heard a lot about you from, Jess…I feel like I know you already…" Schmidt said mocking him. "Can you be any more _subtle _in your flirting, Miller?"

"Uh, Schmidt, why am I here?" Winston asked. "I have a girlfriend, I'm not interested in her."

"You're a strange man, Winston Bishop! An _angel_ from heaven couldn't be more beautiful than this girl and you are not interested? Beats me."

"Can we go now? I'm hungry." Nick said sighing heavily.

"Not until you and Coach promise me that you will _both _back off."

"Fine, I'll back off." Nick said playing along. The truth was he was _never_, not even for a second interested in Cece. Sure she was beautiful, but he couldn't shake her _best friend_ out of his mind since their morning encounter at his bar.

"I'm not promising anything." Coach said stubbornly. "I like her. I find her sexually attractive and I will make it my mission to date her."

"I'm going to date her!" Schmidt snapped loudly. "I've been obsessed with her all day! Even before I knew what she looked like!"

"Well too bad, because now you've got some_ competition_." Coach hit back.

"Nick! Tell him to back off. She is literally the most beautiful woman I have ever met…she's my dream girl, Nicholas!"

"Back off Coach, let him have his dream girl."

"No." he yelled. "You'll have to fight me for her."

"Fine." Schmidt yelled back. "Then I will beat you fair and square. Women of colour always prefer Vanilla guys to boring African American men anyways."

A small knock at the door interrupted their fight.

"Guys, it's Jess. Can I come in?"

Nick opened the door and Jess stepped inside quickly, before shutting it closed behind her again.

"Hey guys, I don't know if you know this or not, but Cece and I...we heard everything you said! You guys are _freaking _out my friend! Can you stop acting like douchebags?"

"He started it." Schmidt said pointing the finger at Coach.

"I did not." he bellowed back loudly, nudging Schmidt hard.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Jess yelled over the two guys as they continued to nudge each other. "Would it kill you to grow up and act like responsible adults?" she whispered angrily.

"She heard _everything_?" Schmidt asked, avoiding her gaze and looking around the room quickly.

"Yes! She thinks that you are all so weird... except for Winston!"

"What? What did I do?" Nick snapped defensively.

"Apparently she thinks that you are supporting Schmidt in some way because you are not encouraging him to back off."

"Thanks a lot, Schmidt." He said shaking his head disapprovingly at his friend.

"Now, we are _all_ going to go back into the kitchen, sit down and be normal, non-creepy people and eat dinner with my friend. _Got it_?"

Everybody nodded in agreement and Jess smiled smugly. It felt nice to make them all cringe in fear a little. Especially Coach.

"And I swear to God, if you guys freak her out anymore... this will be the _last _time you will ever see her again! If you do anything at all to make her uncomfortable in any way, I will not bring her over again. _Capiche?"_

They all nodded solemnly and followed Jess quietly back into the kitchen.

xoxo

**Author's Note:**

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I had a lot going on and I didn't really have any time to update. I also had the feeling that nobody was really reading this based on the reviews, so it kind of slipped my mind.

To answer a reader's previous review/comment… I am aware that 4D only has 4 bedrooms, hence the reason why Coach is not currently on the show and why Jess had to move into the loft. But since my fic is an Alternate Universe (AU) story, I choose to incorporate Coach into the fic and therefore I've allowed for him to have a room in 4D. I hope that makes sense.

I don't know how I feel about this chapter, so reviews would be appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed the read. _Please leave me a review if you can._

Paris xoxo


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